The Middletown-Odessa-Townsend area is expected to see between 8 and 10 inches of snowfall between 10 p.m. Sunday and 2 p.m. Monday, according to the National Weather Service.

By Scott Gossscott.goss@doverpost.com@MiddletownScott

The Middletown-Odessa-Townsend area is expected to see between 8 and 10 inches of snowfall between 10 p.m. Sunday and 2 p.m. Monday, according to the National Weather Service.

Early Sunday evening, Gov. Jack Markell issued a state of emergency with a Level 1 driving warning set to take effect at midnight.

A Level 1 driving warning means the public is encouraged to avoid driving on state roadways, while those who must drive are urged to use caution.

"Once the precipitation turns to snow, we strongly encourage drivers who do not need to travel to delay or refrain from being on the road,” Markell said. "Snowfall amounts are predicted to increase rapidly as the storm progresses, which will create hazardous driving conditions. Hundreds of DelDOT crews will continue to work on clearing roads and we will continue to evaluate conditions.”

New Castle County and all state offices will be closed Monday. Non-essential employees are not to report to work for this period. Essential employees are to report as scheduled.

Middletown also announced it would be closing town offices Monday and postponing the town council election scheduled for Monday until March 24.

Townsend declared a snow emergency that will be in effect from from 6 p.m. tonight until 6 p.m. Monday. All Townsend residents are urged to remove their vehicles from town streets to facilitate emergency vehicle traffic and snow removal efforts, town officials said.

The Appoquinimink School District, MOT Charter School, St. Georges Technical High School and St. Anne's Episcopal School announced they would be closed Monday, along with the Brandywine, Christina, Colonial and Red Clay school districts and Providence Creek Academy.